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By AVERY GOODSTINE,
The Breeze
The Board of Visitors (BoV) announced former Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance Charlie King as JMU’s interim president — the first in over 30 years — during its Friday morning meeting.
Both the proposed tuition increase and budget for the 2024-25 academic year were approved unanimously. The tuition proposal includes a 3% in-state and 1.5% out-of-state tuition increase.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By JOEY LOMONACO,
Fredericksburg Free Press
Lloyd Moss Jr. recalls his father’s trademark retort for whenever someone would make reference to his namesake health center.
“His comment was always, ‘It’s not my clinic.’” Moss Jr. said of the late Dr. Lloyd F. Moss, who helped found the Moss Free Clinic back in 1993. “It’s the Fredericksburg community’s, and it’s the volunteers’ clinic.”
On Sunday afternoon, nearly 100 people gathered in a Taco Bell parking lot less than a mile from the clinic’s doors with a shared aim: taking ownership of its now-precarious future.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By PATRICK LARSEN,
VPM
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced a new approach to lease enforcement amid public outcry over eviction cases it recently filed against residents.
CEO Steven Nesmith said the “Compassion Action Initiative” will focus on re-establishing relationships with residents, adhering to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations, strengthening data collection and sharing with stakeholders, and addressing a $3 million backlog of unpaid rent.
At least 14 pending cases were dismissed from Richmond General District Court on Wednesday in a pause that Nesmith said would extend for a minimum of 30 days.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By TAD DICKENS,
Cardinal News
A federal program that gives discounts on internet service to low-income households is ending this month, with no immediate plan to replace it.
The Affordable Connectivity Program for two years provided discounts of $30 a month, or $75 a month for people on tribal land. The $14.2 billion Congress made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has run out, and the Federal Communications Commission accepted its final application on Feb. 8. The program also included one-time $100 discounts on laptop, desktop or tablet purchases.
Despite multiple requests to extend the program — including from lawmakers and the FCC chairwoman — neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives is on schedule to address it.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
Almost 20,000 acres have been lit by flames that primarily torched the western and central parts of the state so far during Virginia’s 2024 spring fire season. With about a week left until the season ends, that is double the amount of acres affected annually in the state across its 10-year average.
There’s no question that the fires visibly caused an immediate loss of vegetation and wildlife habitat, but state and federal officials said in interviews with the Mercury last week the blazes provide some benefits and are a centuries-old resource management tool.
“It does play an important role in the ecosystem,” said Michael Downey, assistant director for wildfire mitigation and prevention at the Virginia Department of Forestry.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By SUSAN CAMERON,
Cardinal News
Recently unsealed search warrants executed at cannabis-related stores as part of a sweeping law enforcement operation across Southwest Virginia last fall detail weeks of undercover buys and catalog the seizure of ATMs, thousands of dollars in cash and containers of plant materials bearing labels like “Grease Monkey” and “Stomp Purple.”
A spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, which helped coordinate the sweep, said there have been no charges or arrests in connection with the searches. The agency is “still working through the investigation” with the county commonwealth’s attorneys, Corinne Geller said Friday.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By PETER CARY,
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
Town officials Thursday cleared the way for the construction of an Amazon data center in Warrenton, reaching a milestone in the long and tumultuous saga that splintered the town’s council and its residents.
Warrenton’s planning and zoning staff signed off on the latest site plans for the data center, removing the last major administrative hurdle for the 220,000-square-foot project on Blackwell Road. Now that the site plan has been approved, Amazon will move on to obtaining routine permits for site work and building construction.
VaNews April 22, 2024
Roanoke Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
The town of Blacksburg is streamlining the process of making and responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
It launched a new records management software called JustFOIA, according to a town news release.
JustFOIA is designed for state and local government entities to modernize public records management and accessibility, according to the release.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By LUKE WEIR,
Roanoke Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Your trash becomes gas. It happens gradually, as mountains of our garbage decompose at Smith Gap Regional Landfill in Roanoke County. That’s where the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority hauls all the waste — more than 500 million pounds per year — from Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County and Vinton. Among rotten banana peels and other decaying organic material sealed inside the landfill, methane-rich fumes are captured by a system of buried vacuum tubes ...
VaNews April 22, 2024
By ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS AND BRAD PLUMER,
New York Times
(Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
President Biden will travel to a national park in Virginia on Monday, Earth Day, to spotlight his clean energy investments, with an eye on bolstering support among young voters disillusioned with their choices for the 2024 election.
Against the backdrop of the park, Prince William Forest, Mr. Biden will announce $7 billion in grants to fund solar power for hundreds of thousands of homes in primarily disadvantaged communities, according to the White House. He will be joined by future members of the American Climate Corps, a new work force for young people hoping to combat climate change.
VaNews April 22, 2024
